1.
Powiat
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A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as county, a powiat is part of a larger unit, the voivodeship or province. A powiat is usually subdivided into gminas, major towns and cities, however, function as separate counties in their own right, without subdivision into gminas. They are termed city counties and have roughly the same status as county boroughs in the UK. The other type of powiats are termed land counties, as of 2008, there were 379 powiat-level entities,314 land counties, and 65 city counties. For a complete listing, see List of Polish counties. For tables of counties by voivodeship, see the articles on the individual voivodeships, the history of Polish powiats goes back to the second half of the 14th century. They remained the basic unit of organization in Poland, then in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After Poland regained independence in 1918, the powiats were again the territorial units. Powiats were abolished in 1975 in favor of a number of voivodeships. This reform also created 16 larger voivodeships, legislative power within a powiat is vested in an elected council, while local executive power is vested in the starosta, who is elected by that council. The administrative offices headed by the starosta are called the starostwo, however, in city counties these institutions do not exist separately – their powers and functions are exercised by the city council, the directly elected mayor, and the city offices. In some cases a powiat has its seat outside its own territory, for example, Poznań County has its offices in Poznań, although Poznań is itself a city county, and is therefore not part of Poznań County. Powiats have relatively limited powers, since many local and regional matters are dealt with either at gmina or voivodeship level, the Polish the name of an county, in the administrative sense, consists of the word powiat followed by a masculine-gender adjective. In most cases, this is the formed from the name of the town or city where the county has its seat. Thus the county with its seat at the town of Kutno is named powiat kutnowski, if the name of the seat comprises a noun followed by an adjective, as in Maków Mazowiecki, the adjective will generally be formed from the noun only. There are also a few counties whose names are derived from the names of two towns, from the name of a city and an adjective, or a mountain range. There is more one way to render such names into English

2.
Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church

3.
Voivodeships of Poland
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A województwo is the highest-level administrative subdivision of Poland, corresponding to a province in many other countries. The term województwo has been in use since the 14th century, the word województwo is also rendered as voivodeship or a variant spelling. The Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998, which went into effect on 1 January 1999 and these replaced the 49 former voivodeships that had existed from 1 July 1975. Todays voivodeships are mostly named after historical and geographical regions, while prior to 1998 generally took their names from the cities on which they were centered. The new units range in area from under 10,000 km2 to over 35,000 km2, voivodeships are further divided into powiats and gminas, see Administrative divisions of Poland. Competences and powers at voivodeship level are shared between the voivode, the sejmik and the marshal. In most cases these institutions are all based in one city, but in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Lubusz Voivodeship the voivodes offices are in a different city from those of the executive, Voivodeship capitals are listed in the table below. The voivode is appointed by the Prime Minister and is the representative of the central government. The voivodes offices collectively are known as the urząd wojewódzki, the sejmik is elected every four years, at the same time as the local authorities at powiat and gmina level. It passes bylaws, including the development strategies and budget. It also elects the marszałek and other members of the executive, the marshals offices are collectively known as the urząd marszałkowski. According to 2014 Eurostat data, the GDP per capita of Polish voivodeships varies notably, Administrative division of Poland between 1979 and 1998 included 49 voivodeships upheld after the establishment of the Third Polish Republic in 1989 for another decade. This reorganization of administrative division of Poland was mainly a result of government reform acts of 1973–1975. In place of the administrative division, a new two-level administrative division was introduced. The three smallest voivodeships – Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź – had the status of municipal voivodeship. After World War II, the new division of the country within the new national borders was based on the prewar one and included 14 voivodeships. The voivodeships in the east that had not been annexed by the Soviet Union had their borders left almost unchanged. The newly acquired territories in the west and north were organized into the new voivodeships of Szczecin, Wrocław and Olsztyn, two cities were granted voivodeship status, Warsaw and Łódź

4.
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
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Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province, in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 voivodeships into which Poland is divided. Historically the area had ties to both German and Polish culture, with additional Czech influence in the southern mountainous region. Silesia was once divided into many small duchies reigned by dukes and princes of the Piast dynasty, during this time, cultural and ethnic Germanic influence prospered due to immigrants from the German-speaking areas of the mighty Holy Roman Empire. This also impacted on the architecture as well as traditions. Throughout the upcoming centuries, Lower Silesia experienced several key events such as the Protestant Reformation, Lower Silesia is one of the richest provinces in Poland as it has valuable natural resources such as copper, brown coal and rock materials, which are exploited by the biggest enterprises. Its well developed and varied industries attract both domestic and foreign investors and its capital and largest city is Wrocław, situated on the Odra River. Furthermore, the voivodeship is famous for its castles and palaces and is one of Polands most visited regions by tourists. The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałbrzych and Jelenia Góra Voivodeships and it covers an area of 19,946 square kilometres, and as of 2013 has a total population of 2914362. Although much of the region is relatively low-lying it also includes Sudeten Foreland, popular ski resorts in Lower Silesian Voivodeship include Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba in the Karkonosze mountains. Other important tourist destinations in the include the chief city, Wrocław, as well as the towns of Jelenia Góra. The town of Boleslawiec is famed for its pottery, an international airport is located in Wrocław–Copernicus Airport. The main railway station is Wrocław Główny, the A4 motorway, A8 motorway and A18 motorway run through the voivodship. Lower Silesian Voivodeship is one of the most visited voivodeships in Poland and it is famous for a large number of castles and palaces, inter alia, Książ Castle, Czocha Castle, Chojnik Castle, Grodziec castle, Gorzanów Castle, Kliczków Castle. There is also a lot in the Jelenia Góra valley, the voivodships most widely visited city is Wrocław with many sights and attractions, inter alia open all year round Aquapark, Wrocław SPA Center and famous Wrocławs dwarfs. The Festival of Good Beer is held every year, on the weekend of June. Śnieżka is one of the first European peaks visited by tourists, it is also the highest peak of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Lower Silesia is one of the richest regions in Poland. GDP per capita in 2007 accounted for 108. 7% of the average for the country, since 2005, the voivodeship recorded the highest in the country economic growth rate. The voivodeship contains 91 cities and towns and these are listed below in descending order of population, Lower Silesian Voivodeship is divided into 30 counties, four of which are city counties

5.
Gmina
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The gmina is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a commune or municipality. As of 2010 there were 2,478 gminy throughout the country, the word gmina derives from the German word Gemeinde, meaning community. The gmina has been the unit of territorial division in Poland since 1974. Some rural gminy have their seat in a town which is outside the gminas division, for example, the rural Gmina Augustów is administered from the town of Augustów, but does not include the town, as Augustów is an urban type gmina in its own right. The legislative and controlling body of each gmina is the municipal council, or in a town. A gmina may create auxiliary units, which play an administrative role. In rural areas these are called sołectwa, in towns they may be dzielnice or osiedla and in an urban-rural gmina, for a complete listing of all the gminy in Poland, see List of Polish gminas. Each gmina carries out two types of tasks, its own tasks and commissioned ones, own tasks are public tasks exercised by self-government, which serve to satisfy the needs of the community. Commissioned tasks cover the remaining public tasks resulting from legitimate needs of the state, the tasks are handed over on the basis of statutory by-laws, charters and regulations, or by way of agreements between the self-government units and central-government administration. Official report from the Central Statistical Office of Poland dated January 1,2006

6.
Gmina Lubawka
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Gmina Lubawka is an urban-rural gmina in Kamienna Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Lubawka, which lies approximately 14 kilometres south of Kamienna Góra, the gmina covers an area of 138.08 square kilometres, and as of 2006 its total population is 11,604. Gmina Lubawka is bordered by the town of Kowary and the gminas of Kamienna Góra and it also borders the Czech Republic. The gmina contains the villages of Błażejów, Błażkowa, Bukówka, Chełmsko Śląskie, Jarkowice, Miszkowice, Niedamirów, Okrzeszyn, Opawa, Paczyn, Paprotki, Stara Białka, Szczepanów and Uniemyśl

7.
Vehicle registration plates of Poland
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Polish vehicle registration plates indicate the region of registration of the vehicle encoded in the number plate. According to Polish law, the plate is tied to the vehicle. There is no possibility for the owner to keep the number for use on a different car. The licence plates are issued by the powiat of the vehicle owners registered address of residence, if it is owned by a legal person, the place of registration is determined by the address of its seat. Vehicles leased under operating leases and many de facto finance leases will be registered at the seat of the lessor, when a vehicle changes hands, the new owner must apply for new vehicle registration document bearing his or her name and registered address. The new owner may obtain a new licence plate although it is not necessary when new owners residence address lies in the area as the previous owners. In such a situation the licence plates are carried over to the new owner. If the car has a pre- May 1,2006 plate, the plaque cannot be replaced if destroyed. The change of the set is required. The change in system shown below in 2001 is related to the reduction in the year of the number of voivodeships in Poland from 49 to 16. The pre-2001 licence plates can be used indefinitely, but since they are obsolete they have to be replaced in case of change of vehicles ownership. In the pre-2001 model, there were not sufficient letters in the Polish alphabet for each of the old voivodeships to have a single letter, only the standard latin alphabet were used, the specific Polish characters with diacritics were excluded in order to make the plates fully internationally readable. Therefore, two letters had to be used to indicate the vehicles origin, since the change, the first letter denotes the new voivodeship. One additional letter is used in cities with rights of powiat, two additional letters are used in any other powiat. It is not necessary for EU citizens to re-register the vehicles they have brought them, which are duly registered and taxed elsewhere in the EU. This emerges from European law, although local regulations have to not been changed to reflect the law. If in doubt, refer to your Embassy, if the vehicle uses only one licence plate the excessive sticker must be attached to the registration papers. Each powiat uses a two or three letter code, with the first letter denoting the powiats voivodeship

8.
Polish language
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Polish is a West Slavic language spoken primarily in Poland and is the native language of the Poles. It belongs to the Lechitic subgroup of the West Slavic languages, Polish is the official language of Poland, but it is also used throughout the world by Polish minorities in other countries. It is one of the languages of the European Union. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet, which has 9 additions to the letters of the basic Latin script, Polish is closely related to Kashubian, Silesian, Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian, Czech and Slovak. It is also the second most widely spoken Slavic language, after Russian, in history, Polish is known to be an important language, both diplomatically and academically in Central and Eastern Europe. Today, Polish is spoken by over 38.5 million people as their first language in Poland. It is also spoken as a language in western parts of Belarus and Ukraine, west and central Lithuania, as well as the northern parts of the Czech Republic. There are 55 million Polish language speakers around the world, Polish began to emerge as a distinct language around the 10th century, the process largely triggered by the establishment and development of the Polish state. With Christianity, Poland also adopted the Latin alphabet, which made it possible to write down Polish, the precursor to modern Polish is the Old Polish language. Ultimately, Polish is thought to descend from the unattested Proto-Slavic language, Poland is the most linguistically homogeneous European country, nearly 97% of Polands citizens declare Polish as their first language. Elsewhere, Poles constitute large minorities in Lithuania, Belarus, Polish is the most widely used minority language in Lithuanias Vilnius County and is found elsewhere in southeastern Lithuania. There are significant numbers of Polish speakers among Polish emigrants and their descendants in many other countries, in the United States, Polish Americans number more than 11 million but most of them cannot speak Polish fluently. The largest concentrations of Polish speakers reported in the census were found in three states, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey. Enough people in these areas speak Polish that PNC Financial Services offer services available in Polish at all of their machines in addition to English and Spanish. According to the 2011 census there are now over 500,000 people in England, in Canada, there is a significant Polish Canadian population, There are 242,885 speakers of Polish according to the 2006 census, with a particular concentration in Toronto and Montreal. The geographical distribution of the Polish language was affected by the territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II. Poles settled in the Recovered Territories in the west and north and this tendency toward a homogeneity also stems from the vertically integrated nature of the authoritarian Polish Peoples Republic. The inhabitants of different regions of Poland still speak standard Polish somewhat differently, first-language speakers of Polish have no trouble understanding each other, and non-native speakers may have difficulty distinguishing regional variations

9.
Administrative divisions of Poland
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The administrative division of Poland since 1999 has been based on three levels of subdivision. The territory of Poland is divided into voivodeships, these are divided into powiats. Major cities normally have the status of both gmina and powiat, Poland currently has 16 voivodeships,379 powiats, and 2,479 gminas. The current system was introduced pursuant to a series of acts passed by the Polish parliament in 1998, previously there had been 49 smaller voivodeships, and no powiats. The reform created 16 larger voivodeships and reintroduced powiats, the boundaries of the voivodeships do not always reflect the historical borders of Polish regions. Around half of the Silesian Voivodeship belongs to the province of Lesser Poland. Similarly the area around Radom, which historically is part of Lesser Poland, is located in the Masovian Voivodeship, also, the Pomeranian Voivodeship includes only the eastern extreme of historical Pomerania, as well as areas outside it. Poland is currently divided into 16 provinces known as voivodeships, the leader of that executive is called the marszałek. Each voivodeship is divided into a number of entities known as powiats. The number of powiats per voivodeship ranges from 12 to 42 and this includes both powiats proper, and cities with powiat status. Land counties have a council, which elects an executive headed by the starosta. In city counties the functions of institutions are performed by the citys own council. The third level of division is the gmina. A powiat is typically divided into a number of gminas, although the city counties constitute single gminas, a gmina may be classed as urban, urban-rural, or rural. A gmina has a council as well as a directly elected mayor. Gminas are generally sub-divided into smaller units, called osiedle or dzielnica in towns, however these units are of lesser importance and are subordinate in status to the gmina. Polish territory has been subject to significant changes over the course of Polish history, therefore, the modern Polish administrative division, while on some levels similar to some historical ones, is quite different from others

10.
Lubawka
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Lubawka is a town in Poland, in Lower Silesia Voivodship, in Kamienna Góra County. It is the seat of Gmina Lubawka. It lies in the area of Central Sudetenland near to the border with the Czech Republic on the way across the Lubawka pass between the Karkonosze and Krucze Mountains, two small rivers, the Bóbr and Czarnuszka, run through the town, which has 6,529 inhabitants. It was part of the German Republic before World War II after which the ethnic Germans were expelled, the first written reference to Lubawka is from 1284. From 1292 to 1810 it belonged to the Cistercian monastery in Krzeszów, the whole domain devolved to the Czech Kingdom in 1392. The town was destroyed twice during the Hussite wars in 1425 and 1431, from 1526 it become part of the Habsburg Empire. Another great war disaster hit Lubawka when the Swedish army during the Thirty Years War totally despoiled the city which was abandoned by its inhabitants for more than six months. The city developed rapidly in the 18th century, particularly due to growth in the industry there. Unfortunately several great fires damaged the city in those times, the largest one in 1734 destroyed the town hall, school, church, vicarage and almost all buildings. In 1810 when the Cistercian monastery in Krzeszów was abolished, Lubawka in conjunction with Chełmsko Śląskie began to develop on their own, the railway, a great incentive to faster development, arrived in Lubawka from Sędzisławia in 1867. Several years later it was extended to Královec and connected with Žacléř, in those times coal mining reached prosperity. At the end of 19th century Lubawka and the villages became very well known as a destination for tourism. The German Olympic team used a facility built near Lubawka to prepare for the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936, during the era of the Third Reich the facility was used by Hitler-Jugend as a training and recreation center. In 1944 there was established in the city a branch of KZ Gross-Rosen for 500 Jewish women delivered from Auschwitz. On May 7,1945 the town was occupied by the Soviet Red Army, virtually all of them were displaced to Germany between 1945 and 1947. The town is mentioned in the version of the 1964 song Universal Soldier by Buffy Sainte-Marie released in 1965 by Scottish singer Donovan, the original used Dachau

11.
Jawor County
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Jawor County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1,1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998, the county covers an area of 581.2 square kilometres. Its administrative seat is the town of Jawor, the other town in the county is Bolków. As at 2006 the total population of the county is 52,058, out of which the population of Jawor is 24,347, the population of Bolków is 5,380, the county is subdivided into six gminas. These are listed in the table, in descending order of population

12.
Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs

13.
Legnica
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Legnica is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship and it is currently the seat of the county and since 1992 the city has been the seat of a Diocese. As of 2012, Legnica had a population of 102,708 inhabitants, the city was first referenced in chronicles dating from the year 1004, although previous settlements could be traced back to the 7th century. The name Legnica was mentioned in 1149 under High Duke of Poland Bolesław IV the Curly, the Christian coalition under the command of the Polish Duke Henry II the Pious, supported by nobles, knights, and mercenaries, was decisively defeated by the Mongols. This, however, was a point in the war as the Mongols, having killed Henry II, halted their advance into Europe. During the Renaissance period, Legnica was one of the most important cities of Central Europe, the city began to rapidly develop after the sudden discovery of gold in the Kaczawa River between Legnica and the town of Złotoryja. In 1742 the city was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia after King Frederick the Greats victory over Austria in the War of the Austrian Succession. It remained in Germany until the end of World War II, Legnica is an economic, cultural and academic centre in Lower Silesia, together with Wrocław. The city is renowned for its architecture, spanning from early medieval to modern period. According to the Foreign direct investment ranking from 2016, Legnica is one of the fastest developing cities in the Silesian region. As of 31 December 2012 Legnica has 102,708 inhabitants and is the third largest city in the voivodeship and it also constitutes the southernmost and the largest urban center of a copper deposit with agglomeration of 448,617 inhabitants. Legnica is the largest city of the conurbation and is a member of the Association of Polish Cities, a settlement of the Lusatian culture people existed in the 8th century B. C. After Celtic invasions beyond upper danube basin the area of Legnica was inhabited by their tribes, tacitus and Ptolemy recorded the Lugii in the area, and mentioned their town of Lugidunum, which has been attributed to both Legnica and Głogów. Slavic Lechitic tribes moved into the area in the 8th century and were the first group to settle it permanently, the city was first officially mentioned in chronicles from 1004, although settlement dates to the 7th century. It is mentioned in 1149 when the High Duke of Poland Bolesław IV the Curly funded a chapel at the St. Benedict monastery. Legnica was the most likely place of residence for Bolesław and it became the residence of the High Dukes of Poland in 1163 and was the seat of a principality ruled from 1248–1675. Legnica became famous for the battle took place at Legnickie Pole near the city on 9 April 1241 during the Mongol invasion of Europe. As the capital of the Duchy of Legnica at the beginning of the 14th century, Legnica was one of the most important cities of Central Europe, the city began to expand quickly after the discovery of gold in the Kaczawa River between Legnica and Złotoryja

14.
Legnica County
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Legnica County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1,1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998, the county covers an area of 744.6 square kilometres. Its administrative seat is the city of Legnica, although this city is not part of the county, the only towns in Legnica County are Chojnów and Prochowice. As at 2006 the total population of the county is 52,995, out of which the population of Chojnów is 14,389, the population of Prochowice is 3,702, the county is subdivided into eight gminas. These are listed in the table, in descending order of population

15.
Lubin County
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Lubin County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1,1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998, the county covers an area of 712 square kilometres. Its administrative seat and largest town is Lubin, and its only town is Ścinawa. As at 2006 the total population of the county is 105,582, out of which the population of Lubin is 76,595, the population of Ścinawa is 5,934, and the rural population is 23,053. Lubin County is bordered by Głogów County to the north, Góra County to the north-east, Wołów County to the east, Legnica County to the south, the county is subdivided into four gminas. These are listed in the table below, in descending order of population

16.
Milicz County
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Milicz County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1,1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998, the county covers an area of 715 square kilometres. Its administrative seat and only town is Milicz, as at 2006 the total population of the county is 36,845, out of which the population of Milicz is 12,004 and the rural population is 24,841. The Milicz County is made up of three boroughs, Milicz, Krośnice, and Cieszków, the district is famous for its forests and ponds. The Milicz Ponds built in the 13th century by the Cistercian monks are nowadays the biggest centre of carp-culture in Poland, the unique flora and fauna of this region were the main reason for which the Nature Centre the Barycz Valley was set up here. The Milicz County provides suitable conditions for development of small and average businesses, the county possesses also many grounds prepared for investments - in order to encourage new investors, the local authorities offer them tax privileges. The most important investment carried out over the last few years is the enlargement of the local hospital, the institution opened in 1999 is now a modern establishment providing patients with medical services. The hospital, which has 240 beds at its disposal, possesses 9 common, Milicz County is bordered by Krotoszyn County to the north, Ostrów Wielkopolski County to the east, Oleśnica County and Trzebnica County to the south, and Rawicz County to the west. The county is subdivided into three gminas and these are listed in the table below, in decreasing order of population

17.
Polkowice County
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Polkowice County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1,1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998, the county covers an area of 779.9 square kilometres. Its administrative seat is the town of Polkowice, and it contains the towns of Chocianów and Przemków. As at 2006 the total population of the county is 61,138, out of which the population of Polkowice is 22,279, that of Chocianów is 8,215, that of Przemków is 6,551, and the rural population is 24,093. Polkowice County is bordered by Głogów County to the north, Lubin County to the south-east, Legnica County to the south, Bolesławiec County to the south-west, the county is subdivided into six gminas. These are listed in the table, in descending order of population

18.
Strzelin County
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Strzelin County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1,1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998, the county covers an area of 622.3 square kilometres. Its administrative seat is the town of Strzelin, and its only town is Wiązów. As at 2006 the total population of the county is 44,146, out of which the population of Strzelin is 12,192, that of Wiązów is 2,230, the county is subdivided into five gminas. These are listed in the table, in descending order of population

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Trzebnica County
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Trzebnica County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1,1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998, the county covers an area of 1,025.5 square kilometres. Its administrative seat is Trzebnica, and it contains the towns of Oborniki Śląskie, Żmigród. The county is subdivided into six gminas and these are listed in the following table, in descending order of population

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Zgorzelec County
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Zgorzelec County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. It came into being on January 1,1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998 and it is situated in the extreme south-west of Poland, bordering both Germany and the Czech Republic. The county covers an area of 838.1 square kilometres and its administrative seat is Zgorzelec, on the German border, the other towns in the county are Bogatynia, Pieńsk, Zawidów and Węgliniec. Zgorzelec County is bordered by Żary County and Żagań County to the north and it also borders the Czech Republic to the south and Germany to the west. The county is subdivided into seven gminas and these are listed in the following table, in descending order of population

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Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation